DISCUSS: What’s Good On TV?

Continuing our series of non-political, non-adversarial discussion topics, what’s good on TV?

With the coming of streaming technology, we cut our cords and settled in for what seemed like a new Golden Age of Television. A wealth of new shows, plus all the old ones, plus movies, made TV watching great again. Now, we have already watched the obvious ones on our list. Now, it’s hit or miss again, similar to the last days of cable. There are no doubt other shows that we would like, but there are so many out there that it’s hard to even know what’s available, let alone if they would accord to our tastes (something the “if you liked this, you’ll like this” algorithms don’t seem to capture).

We are depending on word of mouth, and that’s actually a good approach. My sister has pretty much the same tastes that I do, so when either of us stumbles upon something promising in the course of random browsing, we inform each other, and that has worked well. But I’d like to extend our circle of taste to bring you all into it.

What are you watching and what would you recommend?

I’ll start, though this isn’t much of a contribution, since it’s been the #1 show on Netflix: A Man on the Inside. Ted Danson plays a retired professor (no wonder it strikes close to home with me!) who is hired by a private investigator to go underground in a retirement community to solve some mysterious thefts. So there is a sort of mystery plot, but that’s not really the point of the story. The characters, the relationships, the situations, the parent/adult child dynamics–all of it–are charming, engaging, and enjoyable to watch.

I didn’t think it sounded very good, thinking it would likely be maudlin or a mockery, but it isn’t! Somehow the show is very funny, while dealing with sensitive and moving issues, such as caring for a loved one with dementia (which also struck close to home).

Here is what I said about it to my said sister as we were watching it: “It’s so humane and kind. They aren’t making fun of these people. You don’t see that much [in comedy].” And then, when we came to the end of the last episode, “We saw the end of it. How poignant! How close to home! How tear inducing [but in a good way]! How positive!”

Now it’s your turn. It doesn’t have to be anything as great as this particular series, nor do you need to review it at length (unless you want to). But what is something you’ve watched that you would recommend to your fellow Cranach subscribers, or at least those who might share your tastes?

If you were going to say A Man on the Inside, but I stole your thunder, sorry, so feel free to second other people’s nominations or discuss them.

(The Disqus commenting software may not let you post trailers or other links. You could try. Sometimes links go through, but if it doesn’t work, that’s why.)